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Step 5MAKE A COMPARTMENT WHERE THE CASSETTE TAPE MECHANISM EXISTED
After I yanked out the cassette tape mechanism from the boombox, the cassette door didn't close. The door was spring loaded and the door latch was part of the mechanism. I could have glued the door shut but it seemed a waste of space. I decided to build a clear acrylic box and light the box from behind with a blue LED.
Parts Needed:
1 blue LED diode - Frys - 149mcd 3.8Vf @20mA
1 330 ohm resistor - Radio Shack - 271-1315 $0.99
some 28awg - 24awg wire
1/16" Acrylic sheet - Tap Plastic Tap Plastic 2'x2' $7.00
Acrylic cement Tap Plastic $3.40
First you need to cut away all the unnecessary plastic. On the cassette door, most of the plastic is used to hold the cassette tape in place. This is the fun part. With pliers, wire cutters, Exacto knife, saw and sandpaper, remove all plastic bits except for the hinge nubs and doorstop nubs.
I fabricated a spring loaded latching lever that holds the door shut. I stole a spring from the cassette tape mechanism.
On the boombox's front panel, cut away all the plastic but leave a piece of plastic that will act as an anchor to hold the door shut. Make rough measurements for a 5 sided box. Transfer these measurements to cardboard templates. Mock up a compartment in cardboard first. Make your mistakes on the cardboard templates. When satisfied, transfer the cardboard templates to the 1/16" clear acrylic sheet. Cut out the pieces. Fit one piece at a time taking time to trial fit over and over again. Start with the top piece, then fit the bottom, then the sides and the last part is the back piece. If you want a real professional looking installation, sand the exposed edges of the acrylic to a smooth finish using finer and finer grades of sandpaper. Use plastic polish (from Tap Plastics) to finish it off. Use acrylic cement for final assembly.
Now that I had a clear compartment, I had the idea to add a blue LED to light it up. I decided to power the LED with the motor circuit (9v) instead of the regulated 5 volt circuit I created. Why? I figured drawing more power from the motor circuit it would "help" the 7805 regulator. If I used the 5 volt side, it would have loaded the 7805 even more, causing it to heat up even further.
I bought a blue LED (specs. 3.8 Vf, 20 mA) at Fry's. Using this LED Calculator I came up with a 330ohm resistor, using the measured 10 volt motor circuit. The LED circuit is simple. Wire the resistor in series with the diode and use heat shrink on everything. Hot glue it to the inside of the boombox. Aim the light so that it will light up the compartment.
The final step is to simply zip tie all the loose wires for a neat appearance and reassemble the boombox. Booya! You're done! Feels good, doesn't it?
Final Shout Out - Kudos to all for contributing to this site! I never realized how much effort it took!
Parts Needed:
1 blue LED diode - Frys - 149mcd 3.8Vf @20mA
1 330 ohm resistor - Radio Shack - 271-1315 $0.99
some 28awg - 24awg wire
1/16" Acrylic sheet - Tap Plastic Tap Plastic 2'x2' $7.00
Acrylic cement Tap Plastic $3.40
First you need to cut away all the unnecessary plastic. On the cassette door, most of the plastic is used to hold the cassette tape in place. This is the fun part. With pliers, wire cutters, Exacto knife, saw and sandpaper, remove all plastic bits except for the hinge nubs and doorstop nubs.
I fabricated a spring loaded latching lever that holds the door shut. I stole a spring from the cassette tape mechanism.
On the boombox's front panel, cut away all the plastic but leave a piece of plastic that will act as an anchor to hold the door shut. Make rough measurements for a 5 sided box. Transfer these measurements to cardboard templates. Mock up a compartment in cardboard first. Make your mistakes on the cardboard templates. When satisfied, transfer the cardboard templates to the 1/16" clear acrylic sheet. Cut out the pieces. Fit one piece at a time taking time to trial fit over and over again. Start with the top piece, then fit the bottom, then the sides and the last part is the back piece. If you want a real professional looking installation, sand the exposed edges of the acrylic to a smooth finish using finer and finer grades of sandpaper. Use plastic polish (from Tap Plastics) to finish it off. Use acrylic cement for final assembly.
Now that I had a clear compartment, I had the idea to add a blue LED to light it up. I decided to power the LED with the motor circuit (9v) instead of the regulated 5 volt circuit I created. Why? I figured drawing more power from the motor circuit it would "help" the 7805 regulator. If I used the 5 volt side, it would have loaded the 7805 even more, causing it to heat up even further.
I bought a blue LED (specs. 3.8 Vf, 20 mA) at Fry's. Using this LED Calculator I came up with a 330ohm resistor, using the measured 10 volt motor circuit. The LED circuit is simple. Wire the resistor in series with the diode and use heat shrink on everything. Hot glue it to the inside of the boombox. Aim the light so that it will light up the compartment.
The final step is to simply zip tie all the loose wires for a neat appearance and reassemble the boombox. Booya! You're done! Feels good, doesn't it?
Final Shout Out - Kudos to all for contributing to this site! I never realized how much effort it took!
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